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'Underwear bomber' Abdulmutallab to plead guilty 'Underpants bomber' Abdulmutallab pleads guilty
(40 minutes later)
A Nigerian accused of trying to bomb a US-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 is changing his plea to guilty, his lawyer has told his trial in Detroit. A Nigerian accused of trying to bomb a US-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 has told his trial in Detroit that he is pleading to guilty to all charges.
The attorney told the second day of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's trial that the 24-year-old would admit terrorism and other charges. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, told a judge he was admitting all eight counts against him, including terrorism and attempted murder.
Mr Abdulmutallab caught fire when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully, prosecutors say. Abdulmutallab was badly burned when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully, prosecutors say.
Nearly 300 people were on the flight to Detroit with Mr Abdulmutallab. Almost 300 people were on the flight with him from Amsterdam to Detroit.
If convicted of the most serious charges, he would face a life sentence. The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Washington, says sentencing is now a formality - Mr Abdulmutallab will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The former student faces a series of charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Al-Qaeda links
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, said it was behind the attack on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam on 25 December 2009. US Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds verified that Abdulmutallab understood his right to silence before asking him if he wished to make a plea.
"Do I understand correctly that you wish to waive that right [in order] to plead guilty to all the charges in the indictment?" she asked.
"Yes," the defendant replied.
He told the court the bomb was a "blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims."
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen, said it was behind the attack on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam on 25 December 2009.
US and Yemeni officials have linked Abdulmutallab to radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whom he is said to have met while in Yemen before the attack, and that he was trained for the attack in Yemen, by the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
US investigators said Abdulmutallab told them he was working for AQAP and had received the bomb from them, as well as training.
Abdulmutallab flew from Nigeria to Amsterdam, where he boarded the Northwest flight. He was already on a US watch list, but not a no-fly list.
Passengers had to put out the fire after the bomb failed to detonate fully, the court heard on Monday.
Abdulmutallab's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, an influential banker who is well connected in Nigerian politics, said he had approached the US embassy officials and Nigerian authorities in 2009 to warn them about his son.